Word: cole
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...Commissioner Terence Cole's inquiry into Australian involvement in the U.N. Oil-for-Food program is in its 11th week. The activities of executives from wheat marketer AWB were the initial focus of the inquiry. Lately, the questions have surrounded the actions of the Howard government; officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been warming the seat in the witness box. Every few days, Rudd points to a new "stunning revelation." Downer claims the public release of the same document Rudd has referred to "completely vindicates everything the government has said about this issue." At times, Downer...
...impression of dfat emerging from the Cole Inquiry is remote from the way officials regard themselves or the way they have generally been seen by the public. The canap?s-and-cocktails crowd whose mission is to protect and pursue Australia's interests is not superhuman. dfat officials who were watching events in prewar Iraq, acting as a "postbox" for AWB contracts under the U.N. aid program and keeping their ministers up to speed, are just like the rest of us - they forget where information comes from and the names of people they deal with on official business. dfat loses important...
...Basic curiosity and gumption, abundant in less prestigious agencies such as Finance or Customs, eluded the dfat megastars. Cables, statements, e-mails and memos tumbling out of the Cole Inquiry do not inspire confidence in dfat; they certainly don't justify Downer's claim of "characteristic diligence" in performing his duties. Nor do they suggest open government. "I don't think any government in Australian corporate history has been more transparent and more determined to get to the truth than we've been," Downer said of the government's willingness to cooperate with the Cole Inquiry and a U.N. commission...
...intermediaries - and then on to Baghdad's monster. When the dust began to settle after the invasion, a June 2003 memo from U.S. military Capt. Blake Puckett reported that every contract in the Oil-for-Food scheme contained a kickback to the regime of between 10-19%. As the Cole Inquiry is now hearing with disquieting regularity, key officials have very short memories; dfat's filing system is wretched; and, after writing to officials in March 2004 that he was worried, the Minister failed to crack the whip. Perhaps Downer wasn't kidding about being a humble laborer...
...After [Shawn] Haviland and [Adam] Cole, it’s still up in the air,” Brown said. “Unger and Brunnig will get starts. There’s a lot of options...